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• A historical race moves through campus

With spring break coming up shortly, students may have exams to study for and sleep to catch up on.

Although exams and sleep may overrule politics for some, others have been following the primary election process on a regular basis; this includes the knowledge of the pledged delegate count within the Democratic Party after the Ohio and Texas primaries.

“[The results show] it doesn’t change that much as far as delegates go,” said sophomore Brett Bravo, majoring in English. “Supposedly there’s a lot of tampering with the Texas primary. [Rush] Limbaugh told all his listeners to go vote for Hillary ... just to kind of keep Democrats in fighting for a while.”

Despite suffering losses in the Texas and Ohio primaries, Senator Barack Obama continues to lead in pledged delegates, 1,527 to Senator Hillary Clinton’s 1,428, according to CNNPolitics.com.

Senator John McCain secured the Republican nomination with these primaries and also earned the endorsement of President Bush.

Heated discussions among voters have been geared more toward the Democratic Party since the race is so close between the two senators and the Republican candidate has now been chosen.

Tensions exist between Democrats not only for the two different candidates within those primaries but also on campus.

“I think there’s definitely a lot of nitpicking between Clinton and Obama [supporters],” said Bravo. “I guess I don’t see that substantial of a difference. I think either would be a fairly decent Democratic candidate.”

However, not everyone on campus can relate to Bravo’s view.

Nancy Martinkus, staff member of the electrical engineering department, thinks of Obama as “intelligent” and “honest.”

“I truly believe,” said Martinkus, “that this is the first time [where there is potential for] changing a lot of things that are wrong in our government, and I’m almost 60.”

Although she may not agree with Bravo, she thinks highly of young voters engaging in this election.

“I’m glad that young voters are interested in politics,” said Martinkus.

Martinkus also commented on Clinton’s campaign changes she made after the Obama sweep in February.

“I don’t like the dirty campaigning that Hilary pulled ... she stooped so low,” she said. “[They] should stick to the issues. If the delegates in Michigan and Florida end up being counted, ... it’s breaking the rules. I’m never going to listen to politics ever again.”

According to Bravo, Howard Dean has already stated that the delegates in Michigan and Florida will not be counted, meaning that a re-election or caucus must be held, or a compromise of some kind will be made.

Professor of political science Joe Hinchliffe has followed the election “much more closely than other people,” he said.

He said Michigan and Florida could play a role in this election process.

“[The states] seem to be back in play,” he said. “It changes the dynamics of the race. It increases the amount of uncertainty.”

But there does not seem to be much uncertainty in terms of how the Democrats on campus feel, especially with campus’s own chapter of Students for Barack Obama.

“It’s such an Obama-centered campus ... we have such huge support,” said senior Kara Kirchhoff, majoring in international studies.

Another ongoing debate is whether or not the voters will have the last say in deciding who wins the Democratic nomination.

“Surely the ... wisdom is the superdelegates,” said Hinchliffe. “They will tip the balance one way or another.”

Whether Obama or Clinton will win based on pledged delegates from voters or superdelegates, the already historical presidential race steadily moves toward the finish line with some eyes on campus peering closely.